Fingered lifter for tile and blocks



Oct. 31, 1961 GRAY 3,006,679

FINGERED LIFTER FOR TILE AND BLOCKS Filed Aug. 24, 1959 IN V EN TOR. H1420, 0 F 6,? y

WATMYAFM United States Patent 3,006,679 FINGERED LIFTER FOR TILE AND BLQCKS Harold P. Gray, 522 3rd 'St., Traverse City, Mich. Filed Aug. 24, 1959, Ser. No. 835,621 1 Claim. (Cl. 294-92) This invention relates to a fingered lifter for tile and blocks.

The device comprises a tubular handle in which are welded side by side the ends of a pair of bars which extend divergently from each other and obliquely respecting the handle and are bent back beneath the handle in substantial parallelism with each other and with the handle to constitute lifting fingers. Each bar has a prong welded to it at a point near the handle to project obliquely toward the respective finger portion. These prongs are very advantageous in lifting a block from the ground, the fingered portions of the tool being receivable into the opening of the block adjacent one of its end walls and the prongs engaging the end wall externally to keep the fingers from slipping out of the block while the block is being turned to an upright position in which its weight will be supported on the fingers for carrying.

The tool is equally applicable to the carrying of tile, in which case the prongs are not needed.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a View of a tool embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation showing the tool in use in the lifting of a block, portions of its Wall being broken away to expose its interior construction.

FIG. 3 is a view of the tool in end elevation.

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective showing the tool in use for the carrying of a pair of tile.

FIG. 5 is a view of the tool in end elevation, the tile being shown in section on the line indicated at 5-5 in FIG. 4.

-A tubular handle 7 has an internal diameter such that it will just receive the end portions 8 and 9 of a pair of bars 10 and 11 whose ends constitute lifting fingers 12 and 13 respectively. The bar ends 8 and 9 are welded to each other and to the interior of the handle 7 as clearly shown in FIG. 3, the weld being indicated at 14. The intermediate portions 15 and 16 of bars 10 and 11 are mutually divergent and extend obliquely from the end of the handle. At 17 and 18 the respective bars curve to their terminal portions 12 and 13 which constitute the work-supporting fingers and are generally parallel not only with each other but with the handle.

In proximity to the handle, each of the bars is provided with a Work-engaging prong 20 which is welded thereto and extends obliquely toward the finger portion of the respective bar as clearly shown in FIG. 1. The ends of the prongs 20 are spaced from the finger portions of the respective bars and may be mutually divergent, as are the bar portions to which they are welded. The welded connection of the respective prongs to the bars is shown at 21.

In use for the transportation of tile, the finger portions 12 and 13 are receivable into a pair of adjacent tile 3,006,679 Patented Oct. 31, 1961 such as those shown at 22 and 23 in FIGS. 4 and 5. The handle 7 is located in general proximity to a vertical line through the center of gravity of the pair of tile, whereby the tile may be transported with ease to the point of use or storage.

When the tool is used to lift a concrete block such as that shown at 25, it is ordinarily inserted into the opening '26 next to one of the end walls 28 of the block. So far as merely transporting the block is concerned, the situation is little or no diiierent from that involved of transporting the tile. However, such a block is ordinarily picked up from a horizontal position and in order that the tool may be used to raise the tile pivotally to vertical position for transportation purposes, the prong 20 is made to engage externally the end wall 28 of the block, whereby to keep the block from slipping from the fingers 12 and 13 while the block is being tilted to its vertical position, wherein it will hang from the fingers. There being two fingers and two prongs 20, it is possible to lift a pair of adjacent blocks in the same manner in which a pair of tile are lifted as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The means of assembling the finger-forming bars to the handle and to each other facilitates production and the prongs enhance the serviceability of the tool where blocks are concerned without interfering with its conventional use in the transportation of either blocks or tile.

I claim:

A tool for handling blocks and tile and comprising the combination with exactly two laterally spaced fingers in general parallelism and having free ends, of a handle spaced above said fingers and substantially parallel thereto and having an end centered between the free ends of said fingers at a level above such ends, the other end of said handle being tubular, means for connecting the handle to the fingers and comprising bars anchored side by side in the tubular end of the handle and extending laterally divergently and obliquely downwardly and forwardly therefrom and connected with said fingers materially ahead of the handle, and fixed prongs rigidly connected with the respective bars intermediate the handle and the said connection of the bars with the fingers and directed obliquely downwardly and rearwardly toward the free ends of the fingers from the respective points of connection of the prongs with said bars.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 287,727 Ross Oct. 30, 1883 311,503 Marshall Feb. 3, 1885 1,237,788 Keister Aug. 21, 1917 2,116,651 Ackerson May 10, 1938 2,549,257 Staunt Apr. 17, 1951 2,579,826 Ingram et al Dec. 25, 1951 2,594,791 Motl Apr. 29, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 801,297 Germany Jan. 4, 1951 570,688 Great Britain July 18, 1945 

